One of the factors that lifts a sports film from good to great is that the audience doesn’t have to like (or even know about) the sport in question to enjoy the story. So, here are five sports films based on (or inspired by) real-life events whose stories were compelling enough to receive an Academy Award nomination for either adapted or original screenplay.

1. Seabiscuit (2003)

Director: Gary Ross

Screenwriter: Gary Ross

Based on: The non-fiction book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand.

What makes it great? While the film takes place in the world of horseracing, it is the nation-rousing efforts of the titular horse that captures the interest. Set in Depression-era America, the film tells of a team of believers that retrained a horse – who was small in stature but who had a winning spirit – and turned him into a champion.

2. Moneyball (2011)

Director: Bennett Miller 

Screenwriter: Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian (Story: Stan Chervin)

Based on: The non-fiction book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis.

What makes it great? The story of how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane put together a winning baseball team using statistical analysis may seem to have narrow appeal. However, when the film is based on material written by Michael Lewis (The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine) and co-written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network (2010)) and Steve Zallian (Schindler’s List (1993)), the end result is a lively, engaging and endearing look at how an underfunded underdog team made a name for itself in the big bucks world of baseball. For more, take a look at our narrative breakdown of Moneyball.

3. The Fighter (2010)

Director: David O. Russell

Screenwriter: Eric Johnson, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy (Story: Keith Dorrington, Johnson and Tamasy)

Inspired by: The documentary, High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell (1995), directed by Richard Farrell, Maryann DeLeo and Jon Alpert.

What makes it great? While not one of the best-known boxing films, this look at the career of ‘Irish’ Micky Ward certainly packs a punch. It focuses on Ward’s Rocky-style journey to winning the world light welterweight title. However, the emotional drama comes from his troubled home-life, including his relationship with his drug-addicted half-brother Dicky Eklund, himself a once successful fighter.

4. Chariots of Fire (1981)

Director: Hugh Hudson

Screenwriter: Colin Welland

Inspired by: The non-fiction book, An Approved History of the Olympic Games, by Bill Henry.

What makes it great? Long considered a classic film, Chariots focuses on two runners bidding for glory at the 1924 Olympics. Set in post-World War I England, the film is a compelling look at the obstacles two men – one the privileged son of a Lithuanian Jew; the other the devout son of Christian missionaries – faced in the build-up to the Games. Not only was the script nominated for an Oscar, it went on to win for best original screenplay, along with three other wins.

5. Rocky (1976)

Director: Sylvester Stallone

Screenwriter: Sylvester Stallone

Loosely inspired by: The 1975 fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner.

What makes it great? There’s not much left to say about this multi-Oscar winning classic boxing film, which tells of small-time fighter Rocky Balboa, who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. Maybe the ultimate underdog story, Rocky finds notoriety, love and self-respect as he strives to give champ Apollo Creed a run for his money. While Stallone later disputed any connection, there are some similarities with the career of New Jersey fighter Chuck Wepner, whose own life story was fictionalised in The Bleeder (a.k.a. Chuck) (2016).